04173nam 22007454a 450 991045046800332120200520144314.00-8047-6757-21-4237-4949-910.1515/9780804767576(CKB)1000000000246594(OCoLC)191935565(CaPaEBR)ebrary10110296(SSID)ssj0000109711(PQKBManifestationID)11125169(PQKBTitleCode)TC0000109711(PQKBWorkID)10046849(PQKB)10595933(MiAaPQ)EBC3037516(Au-PeEL)EBL3037516(CaPaEBR)ebr10110296(OCoLC)63188469(DE-B1597)582023(DE-B1597)9780804767576(EXLCZ)99100000000024659420050202d2005 uy 0engurcn|||||||||txtccrBefore imagination[electronic resource] embodied thought from Montaigne to Rousseau /John D. LyonsStanford, Cal. Stanford University Press20051 online resource (302 p.) Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph0-8047-5110-2 Includes bibliographical references (p. 257-278) and index.Frontmatter -- Contents -- Preface -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- One. The Return of Stoic Imagination -- Two. Self-Cultivation and Religious Meditation -- Three. Picturing Ourselves in the World: Pascal’s Pens´ees -- Four. The Imagination of Loss -- Five. From Imagination to Significance: The Novel from Scudéry to Lafayette -- Six. How the Ancients Modernized Imagination -- Conclusion -- Notes preface -- Bibliography -- IndexBefore imagination became the transcendent and creative faculty promoted by the Romantics, it was for something quite different. Not reserved to a privileged few, imagination was instead considered a universal ability that each person could direct in practical ways. To imagine something meant to form in the mind a replica of a thing—its taste, its sound, and other physical attributes. At the end of the Renaissance, there was a movement to encourage individuals to develop their ability to imagine vividly. Within their private mental space, a space of embodied, sensual thought, they could meditate, pray, or philosophize. Gradually, confidence in the self-directed imagination fell out of favor and was replaced by the belief that the few—an elite of writers and teachers—should control the imagination of the many. This book seeks to understand what imagination meant in early modern Europe, particularly in early modern France, before the Romantic era gave the term its modern meaning. The author explores the themes surrounding early modern notions of imagination (including hostility to imagination) through the writings of such figures as Descartes, Montaigne, François de Sales, Pascal, the Marquise de Sévigné, Madame de Lafayette, and Fénelon.French literature16th centuryHistory and criticismFrench literature17th centuryHistory and criticismFrench literature18th centuryHistory and criticismImagination in literaturePhilosophy, French16th centuryPhilosophy, French17th centuryPhilosophy, French18th centuryImagination (Philosophy)Electronic books.French literatureHistory and criticism.French literatureHistory and criticism.French literatureHistory and criticism.Imagination in literature.Philosophy, FrenchPhilosophy, FrenchPhilosophy, FrenchImagination (Philosophy)840.9/384Lyons John D.1946-859009MiAaPQMiAaPQMiAaPQBOOK9910450468003321Before imagination1917192UNINA